TipsMake
Newest

Guide to cleaning up the Windows Downloads folder

The Windows Downloads folder is where all the files you download to your computer are stored. After a while, your downloads folder can become full and start taking up a significant amount of hard drive space. Here are some ways to clean up your Windows Downloads folder.

 

Delete unused files from Downloads

Step 1:

In the Downloads folder , right- click on a blank area , select Sort by, and then select Size to categorize the files.

Guide to cleaning up the Windows Downloads folder Picture 1

 

Step 2:

You will now see the largest downloaded files at the top of the list, and you can select which ones you want to delete to free up space in your Downloads folder.

Guide to cleaning up the Windows Downloads folder Picture 2

 

Sort files by type

In addition to sorting folders by size, you can also sort them by type to find files in a specific format.

Right-click in the Download folder , select Sort by, and then select Type .

Guide to cleaning up the Windows Downloads folder Picture 3

Now you will see all similar file types grouped together. You can select which files you want to delete after grouping them.

Guide to cleaning up the Windows Downloads folder Picture 4

 

Use Storage Sense to clean up downloads.

Go to Settings, select System , then tap Storage , and activate Storage Sense .

In the Storage Sense interface, users scroll down to the "Delete files in my Downloads folder if they haven't been opened for more than" setting and then select the time to automatically delete files in the Downloads folder after a period of inactivity.

Guide to cleaning up the Windows Downloads folder Picture 5

Discover more
Samuel Daniel
Share by Samuel Daniel
Update 24 January 2026